Wildlife corridor management : analysis of biodiversity and socioeconomics in the buffer zone of The Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal | |
| Author | Poudyal, Arun Sharma |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no. RD-00-9 |
| Subject(s) | Wildlife management--Nepal Royal Chitwan National Park (Nepal) |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The major issues in the management of wildlife corridor and biological linkage in Barandabhar forest have been addressed in this research: fuelwood and fodder extraction, and crop depredation by wildlife. Nearly two months of field survey in and around Barandabhar forest was conducted. Data has been collected along the specific transect lines by a means of random sampling of ninety households in the study area. Analysis of data was done with descriptive as well as multivariate statistics. The dependency of local people on Barandabhar forest for fuelwood and fodder has been found to be 48 and 29% respectively. The monthly fuelwood consumption was 232 kg per household and the fodder was 208 kg per household. Merely small amounts of fuelwood and fodder were collected from the Royal Chitwan National Park and other national forests. This shows there is a tremendous pressure in Barandabhar forest from neighborhood communities. A relationship was found between the frequency of visits for the extraction of fuelwood and fodder and the distance, family size and landholdings. The crop depredation by wildlife was investigated through interviews of households in the study area in three levels of proximity - close (0-1 km), medium (1.1- 2 km) and far (2.1 km and above) - from Barandabhar forest. The intensity of crop depredation was found higher in close proximity than in medium and far proximity. The Rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) was found to be most destructive (136 kg/hh/year) followed by Chital (Axis axis) (60.3 kg/hh/year) and wild boar (Sus scrofa) (56.8 kg/hh/year). Other wildlife such as porcupine and parakeet also caused substantial damage to crops. There was a significant difference in crop loss among the three proximity classes. People were not really interested in hunting wildlife raiding their crops. However, there was a relationship between willingness to hunt and hunting to reduce the crop damage. The corridor conservation and maintenance of biological connectivity through Barandabhar forest implies that protected areas can not only be managed in isolation. It is essential to allocate and provide a fair share of resources to local people without abusing their traditional rights of collecting forest resources. Ironically, forest cover is essential for both people and wildlife. However, people's heavy dependency on forest resources and the need for habitat conservation for wildlife movement has a tendency to lead to a disputable situation. In this juncture, a major question to ask is whether the present way of energy use by neighboring communities and current plans of buffer zone management are sustainable in terms of available resources? To answer this question, the fuelwood and fodder requirements were calculated from household information. At the same time, the biomass, annual yields and increment of Barandabhar forest have been calculated from inventory data. The legitimate requirements of fuelwood of local people can be met from the 'production forest' proposed in Model II. However, there is still a large deficit in fodder supply, although, improved agroforestry and silvo-pastoral system could increase the fodder production in the near future. At present, the deficit has to be fulfilled from locally available hay and straw. The proposed delineated 'production forest' has an effect on the width of the corridor. Maximizing the width of the corridor reduces the edge effect and simply increases the space for foraging and habitat, it is an application of the 'theory of species area relationship' . Hence, the wider the corridor the better for wildlife movement. However, the minimum core area left will be 2.5 km at the shortest width. Though it may not be enough, it is still good to have biological connectivity and landscape linkage. Nevertheless, the 'production forest' strips also are available for the movement of the wildlife population. Local communities need to be involved in corridor and biodiversity conservation activities. They have to be consulted on any decision that affects the local community. In other words, local people must be involved in the management of 'production forest' delineated to fulfill the requirements of fuelwood and fodder. Local communities have to be partners in the process of conservation. This will lead to the path of 'collaborative management' of the available resources to achieve the desired goal. |
| Year | 2000 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Rural Development, Gender and Resources (RD) |
| Chairperson(s) | Webb, Edward L.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Shivakoti, Ganesh P. ;Mather, Robert ;Sharma, Uday Raj; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Danish International Development Assistance (DANIDA); |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2000 |